CLEVELAND — Robert Frost said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”
There was a time when Cleveland Cavaliers fans weren’t eager to take Kyrie Irving in. His trade demands in the summer of 2017 derailed the franchise’s best era of basketball. But time heals all wounds. Irving will always have a home in Cleveland — that’s what delivering a championship ensures you.
“You know, 52 years is a long, long period of time waiting for a championship, and we did it,”
Irving said after Dallas Mavericks 127-117 loss to Cleveland on Saturday. “And I think that’s one of the hardest championships — I think. I’m not gonna say it is, I said I think personally it’s one of the hardest championships ever in NBA history that we got to accomplish.”
It’s also a championship the city is still celebrating. On Saturday, the Cavs recognized the 10th anniversary of the 2016 championship by bringing out former general manager David Griffin to pull out the sword at the start of the game. They also played a video tribute commemorating Irving’s championship-clinching shot in Game 7, which brought the crowd to its feet.
“This one felt a lot different than the other times,” Irving said of the reception. “This time I got to really settle in, really ground myself, and embrace the support that’s here for me.”
Irving’s time in Cleveland was far from straightforward — he detailed how when asked about it on Saturday.
His rookie season came during the lockout that lasted until December. This meant that he couldn’t communicate with anyone on the coaching staff or front office. “So my first entry into here was a little awkward.”
Things didn’t get easier after that. The criticism he received when the Cavs initially fell short of expectations is something he still carries.
“When they’re discussing my career,” Irving said, “everybody likes to gear towards my first three years in the league, and like to put, ‘He’s not a winner. He didn’t win anything. He didn’t do anything without Bron (LeBron James). He didn’t do anything without the players we ended up winning a championship with,’ which I think is all a good and fair criticism, but I think as I look at it, it was just me learning.”
The idea that a 21-year-old guard could single-handedly turn around a team that frankly wasn’t very talented was unreasonable at the time, and looks even more absurd in retrospect.
James’s return in 2014 didn’t lighten the burden. The expectations, externally and internally, only grew. Irving admitted that this led to tough conversations with his teammates. “You don’t go home happy all the time even when you’re winning, because you feel like you can still continue to get better.”
The championship season was a difficult one for Irving. He fractured his kneecap during Game 1 of the 2015 Finals, which kept him out until December of the following season. And when he did come back, he thought he wasn’t playing to his standards. “It felt like there was a lot of pressure on me to perform well.”
This was a theme for him and that team throughout a turbulent 2016 season that saw them switch coaches from David Blatt to Ty Lue halfway through.
“It’s all on me at times, or it’s all on Bron, or it’s all on somebody else, K Love,” Irving said. “It’s like the blame game got split between us three, but it usually came between Bron and me. It just prepared me. You gotta be an MFer in this league. You gotta have short-term memory.”
Those difficult times paid off in the championship. The 3-1 comeback was made possible by three of the best individual performances by him and James — culminating in Irving’s shot to decide Game 7.
“When I look at it now, I’m just grateful that I was playing against the best of the best, going against the best teams in the world, getting everybody’s best shot for about three straight years,” Irving said. “A lot of young players never get to experience that, being on the hunt for championships every single year. I take those little moments and try my best to connect it to the fans here, because we couldn’t have done it without them.”
It’s been a decade since the championship and nine years since Irving last wore a Cavs jersey, yet, the bond between the player and city may be stronger now than ever. Saturday’s reception, and what it meant to Irving, is proof of that.
“It’s been 10 years. It’s been a great reflection point for me to be able to come back and be able to receive that support in a different way,” Irving said. “I’m so grateful for all the Cavs fans, Cleveland in general, Ohio, wrapping their arms around me as well, and also sticking it through with me as I was a young person.”
There were only a handful of people waiting for Irving after he filed out of the Mavs media interview room an hour and a half after the game ended. One of them politely thanked Irving for 2016 and all that it meant to them.
Irving graciously looked down at them with a wide smile and said, “We’re champions forever.”
Championships are indeed forever.
